Bruce Plante

Bruce Plante knew, while growing up in Texarkana, Ark., that drawing and humor were in his future. He began drawing cartoons in the second grade and began performing standup comedy in the sixth grade.

As a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, Bruce became the editorial cartoonist for the Arkansas Traveler, the school newspaper. He also drew a comic strip called Sheepskins. He won the Sigma Delta Chi Mark of Excellence award in editorial cartooning and the Southwestern Journalism Congress Award of Excellence.

Bruce worked as a staff artist / editorial cartoonist at the Arkansas Democrat (1978 -1981), for The Fayetteville (N.C.) Times (1981-84) and the Potomac (VA) News (1985). In 1985, Bruce became the first staff editorial cartoonist for The Chattanooga (TN) Times and held that position for 22 years.

On Oct. 22, 2007 Bruce was lured away from Chattanooga to Tulsa Oklahoma to take the position of editorial cartoonist for the Tulsa World , where he draws six editorial cartoons a week and one caption contest cartoon a week.

In 1989, he created PlanteInk syndicate which distributed his editorial cartoons to 80 subscribers throughout the United States including 40 newspapers in Tennessee. His cartoons have been reprinted in The New York Times, USA Today,The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Newsweek International (Europe), Newsweek Japan, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, Discover, CBS, CNN, college and high school textbooks and even the Iowa Achievement Test.

Plante has won several awards: the 2002-2003 Fischetti Award (first place and honorable mention), the Tennessee Education Association School Bell Award for outstanding editorial cartoons on public education, first-place awards for public service from The Associated Press and the North Carolina Press Association. He has received the Silver Gavel Award for Public Service from the American Bar Association. He has been a guest panelist at the Harvard University Institute of Politics forum on editorial cartoons and has written an article for Harvard's Neiman Foundation journalism magazine Neiman Reports. Bruce served as the president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. He was the founding Chairman of the Editorial Cartooning Initiative and is currently serving as the Vice President. He also won the Ink Bottle Award for service to the AAEC.

In 2015, Bruce was named a Public Fellow with the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities studying humor at the University of Tulsa.

Additionally, he drew a weekly outdoors / hunting / fishing panel which was distributed nationally to more than 40 customers through PlanteInk syndicate.

In 1985, Bruce won Showtime's Funniest Person in America Contest - Chattanooga. He has taken his considerable experience in comedy and incorporated his cartooning into a very funny, entertaining and educational audio/visual show. He has performed for audiences as large as 3,000 and speaks to more than 30 civic groups and schools every year.

Bruce, 62, and his wife Betsy, celebrated their 39th anniversary. Bruce coached Little League baseball and football for 18 years for his 2 sons Jonathan and Benjamin.

Plante combines award winning comedy experience and a very entertaining visual presentation of award winning cartoons. Motivationally engaging. Especially effective in school settings. Adaptable content to suit any age group, setting or audience. Plante has performed to audiences as large as 3,000. He has been a panelist at the Harvard University Institute of Politics. Plante has opened for (in a concert setting) Lewis Grizzard, country music star Gary Morris and the Funniest Man in America- James Gregory.

Length of Presentation:

30 min.- 2 hours

Availability:

Available year round with a minimum of 2 weeks prior notice.

Terms:

Negotiable. No political candidate fundraisers are accepted.

Setup Needs:

Large projection screen (overhead projector or Powerpoint projector is provided), microphone (preferred), power outlet, table for the projector and a favorable audience seating arrangement